Three days later...
Hermione opened her eyes and found herself in her bed, clean, redressed and... alive. She wanted to cry at the realization, she was so close to being free of this misery. She sat up slowly and instantly noticed her sleeping... boyfriend? Hell she didn't know what to call him, he left two years ago without so much as a word to her. She studied his face. It looked slightly aged from the last time she had seen him and he looked like he was worn out... she almost felt bad for him... almost.
Her concern for him quickly faded and turned into anger. He left her when she was at her lowest point, no note, no communication, no anything and she hated him for it. Yes the situation was stressful, yes the situation was painful but they could have worked through it, maybe adopted once they came to terms with her infertility but he left, he left before they even had a chance to talk about other options, he left when she was still in mourning over her child and infertility, it was as if he had taken the knife that was already impaled in her chest and twisted it.
The old Hermione Granger would have recovered from this... all of this, but when he left and she was still in the state she was in, she just didn't have the will to fight anymore and she gave up and now, two years later he stops her from finding relief and freedom and again... she hated him for it.
She still felt weak but her anger over came that little problem. She stood from the bed, walked to the back of the chair and knocked it over sending him to the floor. She stood back and waited for him to get up, which he did quickly, before she threw herself at him, hitting him for saving her, hitting him for leaving her, hitting him for not being there after everything they had gone through together.
Severus grabbed her arms around the elbow area, avoiding her wrist at all cost and looked down to the angry woman who was currently giving him the glare of death.
"Why would you do this?" he asked, suddenly angry with her for trying to off herself, angry for making him worry, angry for almost making him lose her.
Hermione stood back, tears streaming down her face and she let go...
"Why? WHY?" she screamed, "You left me... you...you disappeared, after everything we went through you just left."
Hermione suddenly lunged at him again, pounding her fist into his chest while sobbing, "Why did you save me?" she yelled louder, "I didn't want to be saved... I don't want to be here any longer and you took that from me. All I wanted was to be free of this pain, free of this miserable fucking life and you show up after two years and stop me... Its not fair!!"
Hermione suddenly stopped beating him and dropped to the ground in gut wrenching sobs. Severus stood their for a minute before dropping down to his knees next to her.
"Why Hermione? Please tell me why you would do this? I didn't leave you... I would never leave you."
Hermione closed her eyes tighter, refusing to look at him. She heard what he had said but it didn't make sense. Why would he vanish for two years?
"I just want to go Severus... I want to be with Arcturus, I want to be with the other babies... I don't want to be here." she said softly, hoping the ground would just swallow her.
"I wont let you go. I need you and I did not leave you."
"Then explain... where the hell have you been?"
"I left you a note... I told you I would be back as soon as I figured something out."
Hermione laughed in a manic type way, "There was no note. I woke up and you were gone. There was no note, no owls, no communication... you just vanished."
Severus shook his head, he knew he had left a note. He picked up her weakened body from the cold stone floor and placed her back in the bed.
"I did leave you a note, It was vague, but I had to be... I didn't want to get your hopes up at the time." he almost whispered.
"What would have gotten my hopes up?" she asked, now full of curiosity.
Severus sat back in his chair and rubbed his hands over his face. "I found a potion that will destroy dark curses. I wanted to tell you, I really did but the ingredients are rare and hard to find... I didn't want to tell you that we would have a child when I wasn't sure I could get the ingredients I needed."
"Did y- you get them?" she asked, calming herself down.
"I did. I actually collected the last ingredient an hour before I found you."
Severus then rose from his chair and walked over to the dresser where he had left the note.
"I left the note here that morning... are you sure you didn't find it?"
"I'm positive. I looked over everything and found nothing."
Severus dropped down to his knees and ran his hand under the dresser. Finding nothing, he stood back up and looked behind it where he spotted the dusty note, sealed like the day he had left it.
"The note must have fallen," he said as he reached behind the dresser, fishing the note out. He then walked back to Hermione and handed her the note. She looked at the envelope and sat it down, there was no need to read it now... she believed him.
A month later, Hermione sat on a stool in the lab, class of green potion in her hand. This was it, the potion that would either lift the curse or destroy her hope.
After he showed her the note, the pair began talking and managed to work everything out. Hermione felt stupid in many ways but the despair she was feeling at the time out weighed any logical thought she had.
"This is it." she stated, looking into the black eyes of her once again boyfriend... soon to be husband.
He gave her a nod, signaling her to drink. The potion would lift the curse within minutes of drinking the potion if it worked. They had an appointment with the fertility specialist in less then an hour to be rechecked for the curse.
Hermione lifted the glass and drank the thick, fish smelling potion, making her gag several times. They waited but nothing happened, they weren't even sure that there was supposed to be any physical effects.
They arrived at the specialist thirty minutes later, both silent and almost afraid to know if it had worked. Neither had said much the entire time... the tension was too thick. When the specialist finally called them back, he greeted the pair with a friendly smile. He honestly didn't think the curse was lifted but he had to take the chance. He requested Hermione to lay back while he ran the diagnostic over her body.
Severus sat in silence, watching the mans face for any signs that would tell him if it had worked or not. He quickly decided he would not like to play poker with this man.
Hermione was less then patient and quickly asked," Well, is the curse still there?"
The specialist looked between the pair and smiled, "The curse is gone and your body is in perfect health. You should have no problems in carrying a child."
Severus jumped from his chair in a very uncharacteristic way and let out a whoop causing Hermione to break into a round of laughter and happy tears.
It took only three months for Hermione to conceive and nine months after that she delivered an 8lb 4 oz baby girl with a head full of black hair.
Severus was completely thrilled at the birth of his daughter and had absolutely no problem showing his emotions, especially after everything they had gone through. He ran from the delivery room to the waiting room full of people that were waiting for the news.
Cheers could be heard through out the entire floor, all ecstatic that Hermione and Severus had finally received their child, a child that would be the first of many.
Three month after the birth of Sirena Elizabeth Snape, Hermione and Severus married and remained that way for the rest of their lives.
Hermione went on to have two daughters and three sons, all of which had their fathers black hair only the girls hair was curly.
A/N: In a perfect world, all women would be able to conceive and deliver healthy children, unfortunately this is not a perfect world and there are thousand upon thousands of women who will never experience the miracle of becoming a mother. I am dedicating this story to a friend of mine who finds herself as one of these women who cannot have a child. She has faced over 10 miscarriages and was simply told that her body is rejecting the babies. While I have had three pregnancies, all went well and I have two sons and a daughter so I do not know first hand how it feels to lose a child. I have however sat with my friend for many nights as she recovered from the loss of her babies and listened to how she truly felt. Her strength is an inspiration to me as I am not sure how I would feel if I were told I could not have children and I give her husband a hearty pat on the back for crying the pain away with her.